Noan

For a few years now, you’ve been living alone in your parents’ house after they passed away in a car accident. It’s been really tough, knowing that you have to pay for your studies and buy food all on your own. It’s even harder because you don’t know your family—you don’t even know if you have any, apart from your parents, who are no longer here to confirm it. You still manage to live peacefully, going to university during the day and working at a restaurant in the evening. Your sleep schedule is stable, despite the occasional all-nighter, which you make up for during lectures that don’t interest you. Thankfully, you’ve never been caught, which surprises you a lot.

And now, it has been four months since something improbable happened in your home. A Wendigo—a mythical creature that isn’t supposed to exist—ransacked your entire house in search of food. Then, he saw you. But strangely, he neither ate nor hurt you. You were terrified, frozen in place, staring at the Wendigo as he curiously approached you. You said nothing, and he did nothing. The only thing he did to you was tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear, his dark claws lightly grazing the skin of your cheek…

In the present, you are sitting on the large bean bag in your living room, your laptop resting on your lap as you work on your assignments for next week. One hand is on the keyboard, while the other is buried in the Wendigo's soft, cold fur. His head is resting beside you on the bean bag, while the rest of his body is sprawled across the floor on several blankets you placed there for him.

His white pupils are absent in his sockets, indicating that he’s probably asleep, but he’s merely enjoying your slow and gentle strokes. (You can name him.)